Suggestion for one additional plant

katrina_ellenAugust 28, 2012

Hi,

I am posting on this site because I value the knowledge of landscaping design. I know something about interior design and am thinking the two have many similar characteristics. I have a concrete patio - not too pretty but it is what it is. Approx. 6-7 foot to the left side of the patio runs the fence line. I want to extend the planting by the fence line to the same length as the patio extends. At this point I have 5 emerald green arborvitaes planted along the fence line which screen my neighbors side door from the patio. At the end of the 5 arborvitaes I planted a summer wine ninebark which will get approx. 5 ft. tall and 5 ft. wide. Now I want to plant one more plant next to the ninebark which will extend to the end of the patio if I plant something that gets approx. 5 ft. wide. Should I plant another summerwine ninebark alongside it, or something else that has a different color or a different texture? The only other planting I have in the yard is a large colorado blue spruce that is planted by the back fence line and takes up most of the space in the very back. Thanks for reading this and thanks for any advice!

There are lots of shrubs that would fill that bill. But I like my Anthony Waterer variety of spirea in my mixed border. Mine tend to get only 4'x4', some years a bit bigger. Nice foliage and showy clusters of pretty dusty rose flowers. Would compliment the Summerwine Ninebark. New growth is pink tinged and there's a reddish fall color.

Thanks duluthinbloomz. It looks like it would be complementary, something different but not standing out too much. I had considered the Darts gold ninebark and I wondered about the contrast being too much, since there would only be two bushes. I had golden colored spireas, not sure of the name of them that I had to dig out of the front because they were planted in front of boxwoods and I constantly had to prune them. They were super low maintenance.

I like the contrast of Summerwine and Dart's Gold, but I agree it might be too much since there is only one of each and perhaps not enough context to create such a bold pairing. So I think I'd lean toward either another Summerwine or something else that is complimentary. There are many roses that look terrific next to Summerwine. Pink and burgundy go so well together.

Do you have container plantings on this patio? That is another fun way to bring in some interesting color and texture, and you can put your interior design skills to good use in planning and positioning your containers.

karin mt - thanks for your response. I don't have anything on my patio except for my son's ranger truck which has been taking up the space all summer - he has to get some repairs done to it, which hopefully will happen soon! Containers are a good idea. My thought was to make part of the yard a veggie garden, and keep the front of it the patio and garden area. So containers would help to section it off. Also I like the rose suggestion as well - I've heard knock out roses are easy.